Happy 80th Birthday to TV Tommy Ivo

Drag racing’s ultimate entertainer turns 80, and we went to the party

Nitromethane must have a preservative quality, because we drag racers are lucky enough to have many of our driving legends still with us to tell their stories, and there is no better story-teller than “TV” Tommy Ivo, who turned 80 years old on April 18, 2016.

To celebrate 80 years of Ivo performance, the NHRA Museum in Pomona, California put together one heck of a birthday party, with a car show, all-star panel, and surprise guest for Ivo. Let’s start outside the museum and work our way in.

Unlike Don Garlits, Ivo usually sold his race cars to finance the build of the next one, so seeing six Ivo cars all in one place is a real treat, even for Tommy! Front and center was the Buick-powered T-bucket that got the 19-year-old Ivo a HOT ROD cover in 1957. This car was inspired by Norm Grabowski’s famous Kookie Kar, and was one of the first, and prettiest Ts of its time. Counter clockwise takes us to a Don Long-chassis front engine dragster, powered by a 426 Hemi. Behind that the Rod Shop Dodge Funny Car, which Ivo disliked because the Rod Shop name was bigger than his. We rarely associate Ivo with the later Funny Cars, but he raced into the 1990s. If we aren’t mistaken, the Plymouth here was the last of Ivo’s traditional race machines. After a nasty crash in the late 1970s he went back to more exhibition passes in jet cars and eventually, returned to what he’s really famous for—the multi-engine machines. The four-Buick Wagon Master never fails to impress. Ivo raced a twin-engine car in the 1950s, and when that proved to be a crowd pleaser, he stepped it up to the four-engine dragster that HOT ROD dubbed, “Showboat” on our 1961 cover. As it turns out, the fame of Showboat knocked Ivo out of the driver’s seat when the producers of the TV show, Margie realized their star was risking life, limb, and boyish good looks behind the wheel of a quad-bomb every weekend. It worked out for everyone, including a young racer named Don Prudhomme, who took on some driving duties. Ivo sold the Showboat to Tom McCourry who saw the success of Funny Cars and came up with the idea to throw a body on the car. Jake Hanna did the tinwork, and it was repainted in Ivo’s colors in the 1980s. If you’re wondering, the quad Buick nailheads were linked in pairs, making them essentially V16s. One pair drove the rear wheels and the other, turned backward, powered the fronts. The only recreation in the display was the Caddy pulling the “Barnstormer,” dragster, neatly tucked in its glass-sided trailer.

The cars were flashy, but the real show was inside, where fellow racing legends like Tom “Mongoose” McEwen, Ed Iskenderian, and Jack Beckman told stories about Ivo’s escapades. Several of Ivo’s former crewmen were there including John “Tarzan” Austin, every bit as tall and intimidating as Ivo described him in his autobiography. Tarzan told the crowd he used to quit every season, except one. “I didn’t have bus fare to get home,” he said.

Several guests were wearing vintage Ivo racing shirts. One crewman told me he went on a crash diet to fit in his as a surprise for Ivo. “No beer and no soda for weeks,” he said, patting his slimmed-down midsection. Ivo was delighted by every part of the presentation, laughing when a “space alien” came in with a message from Don Garlits, who couldn’t attend but sent best wishes. If you don’t get that joke, just know that Big Daddy feels strongly about interstellar matters.

The biggest surprise for Ivo came when his Margie co-host, actress Cynthia Pepper came up to the front of the room. The two hadn’t seen each other in years, but were clearly still very fond of one another. After the presentation, we all went outside to recreate the 1961 cover. “This isn’t so easy on my knees as it once was,” said Ivo as he kneeled by the valve covers. Ever the performer though, he stayed in position as photographers snapped shots.

All the stories were funny, but the most important thing might have been what McEwen said towards the end of the afternoon. “Ivo doesn’t have the trophies or records that some of us do, but it wasn’t because he couldn’t compete. While we were running one or two races for NHRA, he was off match racing, running six or seven races a week. That’s why he doesn’t have many Wallys, he was off making money!”

If you want to know more about Ivo, and trust us, you do, here are some “TV” Tom links for you.